United Protestant Church members already do community outreach and charity work — they collect food for Project Pin and conduct a winter hat and glove drive to benefit Sterling Community School, for example — but they want to do more.

The church wants to offer its basement as a place to hold events and meetings, but that can’t happen until renovations are completed.

Sterling Pond flooded in March 2009, causing substantial water damage to the church’s basement. Floors are rotting, walls are sprouting mold and vermin have taken up residence.

So two years ago, members decided it was time to fix things. Many answered the call to volunteer and donate time and money, but it has not been enough.

“We have had a lot of community support, and we’re grateful, but there is still more that is needed,” Pastor Bonni Piccione said.

The church has approximately 20 members, many of them older, and the only full-time volunteer work comes from Art Stone, community service coordinator for Danielson-based Alternative Incarceration Center, and his crew.

They come on Saturdays to assist, and although they have cleaned, torn down walls and ripped up the floor, there is only so much more they can do.

“This is an excellent use of our guys, because they have the time and ability,” Stone said. “I know it has been slower than planned, but we haven’t moved backwards.”

But the church’s progress may be interrupted soon.

A kitchen is supposed to be part of the basement renovation, but in order to be state-certified, it needs a refrigerator, a two-basin sink, a gas stove, cabinets and countertops.

A halt in progress has been averted before. The flooring could have costs hundreds of dollars that the church did not have, but thanks to an anonymous donor, a concrete floor was installed. Paint and drywall were also donated, and Winco provided a Dumpster.

In addition to the basement repairs, church members hope to address some other areas. Interior bulbs in the sanctuary have burned out because of chewed wiring, and they would like to make the church more handicapped-accessible.

The only bathroom is downstairs, posing a problem for disabled or weak members. A chair lift was donated, but there is no one to install it.

“We are trying to make a nice place for our community,” Piccione said.